Chianti

 After a honeymoon in Italy, I discovered my go to wine is good Chianti. It is one wine I can always drink and, for the most part, always enjoy (Although I hated one Chianti that had a high Wine Spectator rating. It just goes to show that you should always buy wine you enjoy, not a wine that someone else enjoys!) Chianti has a bad reputation. After traveling to Italy and learning more about the country's wines industry, I can certainly say forget those old impressions and try good Chianti!

A view from the Verrazzano vinyard.

ZoeBug actually chose an Italian Chianti to go with the mushroom pasta. I personally think Chianti is always good, but it certainly goes well with pasta! The Chianti is from a vineyard outside of Florence in the Chianti region of Italy. The Vineyard is Castello di Verrazzano.  This Chianti had great fruit flavors and nice tannins. I like it because it is smooth to drink and complimented the mushroom sauce. Verrazzano has really amazing Chianti and table wines. I don't think the vineyard exports this wine, but I did find a small liquor store in Webster, MA called Hank's Liquors that actually has a few bottles of Verrazzano Chianti! Good luck finding it and let me know where you find it, because the wine is amazing!

Lets talk about Wine

 I am no expert, but I enjoy tasting wines and paring them with food. I believe wine is subjective; not everyone will enjoy the same kinds of wine. When I first started buying wine I was the first to read what wine experts had to say and I was the first to purchase any wine that had a high Wine Spectator rating. However, I quickly discovered that I do not like all of the wines that received high ratings. However,  I do find Wine Spectator website to be extremely helpful in learning new things about wine. Maybe my palate is not that refined, but I buy wines that I personally enjoy and I think that is the best way to approach wine.

 There are specific steps to wine tasting that I think are helpful in identifying the flavors and types of wine one may enjoy. This is not a snobby wine blog, but instead helpful hints to start enjoying wine more. Life is too short, so join me in trying new things!

For anyone trying new wine, I suggest trying the wine first without food and then later with food. In Italy we were told that wine was made to be paired with food. Often what you eat can change the taste of the wine. My husband and I do a small tasting before dinner and then reevaluate our thoughts as we enjoy the wine with our food. ZoeBug prefers to just pour wine directly into her food and gobble up the mixture. Those are just a few suggestions that have worked for us over the years. More to come when ZoeBug actually choose a wine to go with our mushroom pasta!